So I've been following the catalog of products WotC plans to release next year (so far they've release information through August) and there are a few surprises. For example, there are no new Power books after Martial Power II, at least for several months. They are not splitting the Player's Guide and the Campaign Guide for Dark Sun, but lumping it all into the Campaign Guide. Instead they will have a Creature Catalog for the setting. Lastly, adventures will only be 32 pages long, but still supposedly cover 3 levels.

There is a lot to be read into some of this, but of course it's all speculation. I'm kind of glad they are going to slow down the Power books (but I assume we'll get at least a Psionic Power book). I like the separated Player's Guide from Campaign Guides, but perhaps it got confusing for people. And maybe they've decided to do away with the Dungeon Delve format. It's useful at the game table, but it takes up a lot of space and is terribly boring to read.

Edit: I also noticed, many more of their products will be in paperback now...

With respect to the setting books, a better question is whether the FR and Eberron Player's Guides were selling significantly better than the Campaign Guides.

If this turns out to be the case, then I wouldn't be surprised at all that the Dark Sun Campaign Setting book is being sold with both the player and DM stuff in one book.

It seems like they only want to do two books for each setting, and maybe they felt that Dark Sun needed its own monster manual more than it needed a player's guide.

They reshuffled Dark Sun so both books are the most popular sorts of books: splatbooks and monster books.

Hmm, it will be interesting to see what they make of Dark Sun in 4E but, will it be as deadly?

The 32-pagers are a surprise. WotC abandoned that format almost a decade ago, so dipping back into suggests something. Not sure what yet.

Oooh....speculation.

The 32-pagers are a surprise. WotC abandoned that format almost a decade ago, so dipping back into suggests something. Not sure what yet.

Erik Mona wrote:

The 32-pagers are a surprise. WotC abandoned that format almost a decade ago, so dipping back into suggests something. Not sure what yet.

Cost cutting, I'd imagine.

Also, I'm glad Martial Power 2 is going to be the last Power book for a while. If they kept that pace up I'd end up going mad from all the choices, and Martial is the power source that needs more options the most.

Erik Mona wrote:

The 32-pagers are a surprise. WotC abandoned that format almost a decade ago, so dipping back into suggests something. Not sure what yet.

Cost cutting, I'd imagine.

In addition, they seem to be putting out a hardcover "super adventure" each year (Revenge of the Giants, Tomb of Horrors).

Also, they may be finding that the Delve format is a waste of space. Having the same stat block for a goblin 5 times in an adventure is a bit much. They may be going to a "page XX of the [Book] or on DDI" format. I see a 32 page adventure being an extention of this.

The other thing is that they said there will be little support for a setting (1 adventure, 1 CS, 1 PG). I think they said that the MM for that year will integrate monsters for the CS (could be wrong on that).

WotC's big thing with 3e is to skimp on the adventures because they didn't bring in as much money (1-2 people per game group as opposed to the player related guides).

(but I assume we'll get at least a Psionic Power book)

It seems like Arcane Power 2 and Divine Power 2 will come up eventually, but maybe not.

Did any of you notice the it is not a book but a supplement. It has a 32 page count and sells for $10. It is probaly stuff that got cut from the 1st PHB.

Erik Mona wrote:

The 32-pagers are a surprise. WotC abandoned that format almost a decade ago, so dipping back into suggests something. Not sure what yet.

Cost cutting, I'd imagine.

EDIT: Perhaps with the 32-page paperbacks, they are testing the waters of cheap RPG products, almost like mass market paperbacks. Do they make more money by selling a lot of the cheap items, or a few of the expensive items?

A few thoughts:

3D Dungeon Tiles -> Very nice. Dungeon Tiles are going up to $12 -> not so nice. I'm not buying them anymore anyway, but why mess with success? Price elasticity and all that.

The "set" of tiles which will remain in print: Great idea.

Slow down of power books is a good thing (imo).

The 32 page releases are all over the place in price. Some are $10, some $12, some $13. Hopefully they'll be consistent when they're actually released.

I'm happy to see smaller modules, as I don't think the $25 ones were a very good value. I do like the delve format, and hope they keep it. Thirty-two page, color adventures for $9.99 with a bi-monthly release schedule would be wonderful, but alas, it doesn't appear to be.

Softcover monster book!?

I'm surprised by the lack of a Dungeon Delve 2.

Minis seem to be slowing down, though perhaps that's just my imagination. I wonder how the line is going after packaging (and pricing) re-shuffle last year...

A few thoughts:

<snip>

The 32 page releases are all over the place in price. Some are $10, some $12, some $13. Hopefully they'll be consistent when they're actually released.

<snip>

Minis seem to be slowing down, though perhaps that's just my imagination. I wonder how the line is going after packaging (and pricing) re-shuffle last year...

Also, past versions of the release calendar have inserted minis later than books, so they may yet add a set or two.

The 32 page releases are all over the place in price. Some are $10, some $12, some $13. Hopefully they'll be consistent when they're actually released.

I would guess this is based on the number they'll be printing for each book. Fewer prints mean more cost per book. They probably plan to sell more of the races books than the Dark Sun adventure, so they will print more of the races book and therefore can sell them for less.

Some of the 32-pagers have battlemaps.

EDIT: Perhaps with the 32-page paperbacks, they are testing the waters of cheap RPG products, almost like mass market paperbacks. Do they make more money by selling a lot of the cheap items, or a few of the expensive items?

The fact that the material will supplement DDI may offset the fact that chain bookstores are not going to order very deep on a product that does not have a spine.

If they can find a way to sell these effectively, there's money to be made. If not, they won't be doing them for long.

They may also be testing different price points to see how the audience reacts and how the price affects sales. They've been out of this game for a while, now.

I suspect the "32-pagers aren't worth it" bromide has grown a little long in the tooth in the last 10 years, so they're going to test the waters and see how it goes.

Several nearby FLGS owners mentioned to me that rpg book sales (along with other stuff they sell like comic books, cards, etc ...) have not been so hot for the last year or so. The last hot selling items they all mentioned were the 4E D&D core books and the Spiderman issue with Obama.

If they can find a way to sell these effectively, there's money to be made. If not, they won't be doing them for long.

With that being said, WotC hasn't announced anything for release yet for October->December 2010.

Spidey and Obama?

Spidey and Obama?

I saw 4e books for the Planes, Underdark, and the Dragonborn in the Diamond Preview catalogs, FWIW.

A slower release schedule would suggest that they're about to embark on another round of retrenchments. Hmmm....

A slower release schedule would suggest that they're about to embark on another round of retrenchments. Hmmm....

2009, Jan-Aug had 19 products
2010, Jan-Aug has 22 products (with at least one DDM set not on the schedule)

My biggest beef with WoTC and gaming companies in general is why do they think they have to put out so many different books? People can barely afford the core stuff anymore. WoTC puts out 3 of this or 3 of that and honestly it just turns me off from the company. I want to be able to play a game without having to own 20 books. I know I don't "have" to buy them, but come on..

My biggest beef with WoTC and gaming companies in general is why do they think they have to put out so many different books? People can barely afford the core stuff anymore. WoTC puts out 3 of this or 3 of that and honestly it just turns me off from the company. I want to be able to play a game without having to own 20 books. I know I don't "have" to buy them, but come on..

Of course, there can remain a legitimate concern about power bloat - but the power level has remained pretty consistent since the first releases, so I haven't grown too concerned about that thus far.

My biggest beef with WoTC and gaming companies in general is why do they think they have to put out so many different books? People can barely afford the core stuff anymore. WoTC puts out 3 of this or 3 of that and honestly it just turns me off from the company. I want to be able to play a game without having to own 20 books. I know I don't "have" to buy them, but come on..

Because people like new things, and people like options, and because your game would not suffer if you were unaware that these extra books even existed.

I had a look at the catalog. I noticed that things like the DMG2 and most other books after the first PHB/DMG/MM are called supplements. I thought they were core?

S.

I had a look at the catalog. I noticed that things like the DMG2 and most other books after the first PHB/DMG/MM are called supplements. I thought they were core?

S.